Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement confirming Scalia’s death. He sent prayers to his family and called the justice a “patriot” and an “unwavering defender of the written Constitution and the Rule of Law.”

Scalia was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, making him the longest-serving current Justice on the Supreme Court and the first Italian American to hold the seat. Scalia met controversy during his time on the court, particularly about his comments on African-American students, claiming they should attend “slower” colleges during an affirmative action case heard earlier this year.

The Guardian reports Scalia’s written rulings drew a divide among liberals and conservatives, such as the choice to dissent Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage.